Liberal Democrats struggled to explain Nick Clegg’s apology over his tuition
fees policy as the Deputy Prime Minister’s show of contrition was widely
mocked on the internet.

Mr Clegg this week issued a public apology over a pre-election pledge he signed to vote against any rise in university fees. The Coalition government subsequently tripled fees to £9,000 a year.

A satirical video of Mr Clegg’s statement, in which he appears to sing his apology circulated widely online and has been released as a single.

The video, created by thepoke.com, a satirical website, was created using “autotune” software that manipulates the pitch and rhythm of recorded speech. William Hill, a bookmaker, put the odds of the song reaching No.1 at 25/1.

As well as the embarrassment, the party also faced uncertainty about just what Mr Clegg was sorry for.

Mr Clegg’s aides have insisted that he was not apologising for the fee increase, but for making the pre-election pledge to vote against higher fees.

Yet Jo Swinson, a Lib Dem business minister, suggested that the party would still like to oppose increases in fees.

It was only the compromise involved in Coalition that prevented the party honouring its pledge, she said. “It was a pledge we would have been able to keep had we either been in opposition or indeed had there been a majority Liberal Democrat government,” she told Sky News.

Steve Webb, the pensions minister, told the BBC the apology meant the party should never have promised to oppose fee increases. “What Nick’s saying is that we have learnt about making a pledge, which if we could rewind, would we make that pledge again? No we wouldn’t,” he said.

Some Lib Dems privately have doubts about Mr Clegg’s apology, fearing it will remind voters of the about-turn on fees.

But Mr Clegg and his allies believe that the statement might give him a chance to start reconstructing his public image and talk to voters about other issues.

Mr Webb said: “It took guts because what we found over the summer is that we’ve got lots of things we want to talk about: a fairer tax system, a green agenda and sometimes that is landing on deaf ears because people are saying 'ah hang on – tuition fees.’”

David Laws, the Cabinet Office minister, said he had always had doubts about the pledge, which was signed by all Lib Dem candidates at the last election. He said: “I was sceptical of the promise in the sense that all of us in the party appreciated it was a very tough budget environment and we had to look at how we could afford all our promises.”

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has also said he had doubts about the promise, but Mr Laws insisted that Lib Dem MPs had to share the blame. “This was a decision not just by Nick Clegg and Vince Cable but by all of us in the Liberal Democrat party,” he said.

In a magazine interview before his apology and published last night, Mr Clegg spoke of his “resilience” and ability to cope with mockery. “Politics and leadership are, as much as anything else, about getting up in the morning, putting a smile on your face even if you don’t like it, and keep ploughing on,” he told Total Politics.

Describing himself as “very good” at the business of government, Mr Clegg said his biggest struggle was getting acknowledgment for his work in the Coalition. He said: “You can be very good in government, but if no one knows, and if the media don’t let you talk and let people hear, it is of value for government and for your own conscience, but of little political value.”